There’s nothing like a physical award. SCU has earned its fair share of hardware, from NCAA championships to Ethics Bowls. But one time in the ’50s, they stole it.
A tale from the SCU Alumni Association about the great trophy heist of 1957, as told by John Figini ’57, MBA ’72 detailed how a group of Broncos took off with the entire University of San Francisco trophy case in the dead of night and returned it two weeks later.
As told by Figini, 12 Broncos and a woman from San Jose State University took part in the late night heist, making off with the entire contents of the USF trophy case as a prank.
Raymond Kelly, S.J., dean of men and later vice president of student affairs, caught onto the shenanigans and, through “the mysterious ways” of the Jesuits, was able to name all of the Broncos involved.
A détente was arranged by the offices of student affairs at the two Bay Area Jesuit university rivals, and two weeks after they were taken, the SCU student body president returned the trophies to his USF counterpart at an undisclosed location.
Some other trophies won by Broncos through more, erm, traditional means:
Orange Bowl. On Jan. 2, 1950, the Broncos took home one of college football’s most important trophies, winning the Orange Bowl against the University of Kentucky Wildcats.
National Soccer Champs. Both the Bronco men and women have seen victory on the pitch. In 1989, the men played for the top spot in a game that ended a 1-1 draw. The women returned to SCU as national champions in both 2001 and 2020.
Day in the Sun. SCU student engineers won awards for building a sustainable, solar-powered tiny home in a national and statewide competitions.